Home ›› 10 Aug 2021 ›› News
Once Zulhas Uddin was like any other clearing and forwarding (C&F) agent at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, who despite being in the business for more than a decade was still struggling to keep his business afloat amid heavy competition.
Surprisingly, Zulhas became a multimillionaire in just three years, although his company, Meherun Enterprise, was not doing good business.
He bought a luxury car and built a six-storey apartment building at Gawair Madrasha road of Dakshinkhan in the capital.
Soon, a mystery arose regarding Zulhas’s sudden rise in wealth as there was no visible source of his new-found income.
However, that mystery became clear when Zulhas fled the country on October 2020 following the seizure of 38,876 pieces of Yaba tablets, worth Tk 1.16 crore, from a consignment of 349 cartons on its way to Saudi Arabia from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), under a false declaration of garments products.
The smuggled Yaba was recovered by Aviation Security (Avsec) of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh in the end of last year, and the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) is now investigating the case filed with Airport police station in this regard.
The DNC said Zulhas Uddin was a member of an international Yaba (amphetamine) trafficking ring and had been using the HSIA as a transit route to smuggle the drugs to top labour importing countries, mainly the Middle East, along with money laundering.
The department also claims few customs and airport officials or staff was also involved with the crime syndicate.
Helal Uddin, a former investigation officer of the case, said although 11 people were arrested in connection with the case, Zulhas and another key suspect remain absconding.
A woman, who identified herself as Farida Begum, currently lives in his house in Gawair.
“We rented this house from Zulhas about a year ago. But for the last 10 months we don’t have any connection with him. He did not ask for rent. We are paying utility bills and living here,” she said.
Talking to The Business Post, DNC officials said that the names of Zulhas and a Saudi national Abdul Aziz Al Saud surfaced following the arrest and interrogation of Jahangir Alam, owner of Siam and Sony Enterprise, who was responsible for sending the Yaba consignment.
Abdul Aziz Al Saud, owner of Appraise International Limited in Saudi Arabia, sent Tk 32 lakh in advance to Jahangir Alam’s account at Sonali Bank’s foreign currency branch and similar disbursements to Zulhas and others accomplices.
The drug ring used to smuggle amphetamine in the form of Yaba under a false declaration, DNC officials said.
Meanwhile, investigators have already questioned 10 to 12 persons, including two assistant revenue officers of Dhaka Customs, who reportedly cleared the respective consignment for scanning after stating “‘after I have checked every piece of sweater in a physical examination” on the customs clearance document.
Meanwhile, investigations are also going on to confirm whether the ring was also involved with money laundering.
DNC Director (Operations) Kusum Dewan said that the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) is investigating the bank accounts of the suspects in the case and will file a case if evidence of money laundering is found.
“Similarly, a letter has been sent to the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia to contact Saudi authorities to collect information on prime suspect Abdul Aziz Al Saud and whether any other Bangladeshi national there was involved with the ring,” he added.
Hopefully, a charge sheet will be submitted to the court very soon, Kusum Dewan added.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Customs Agents Association said the government should take action against such C&F agents involved with illegal activities.
“We work to ensure that importers and exporters get their services easily and the government can earn revenue. The government should take action against anyone involved with illicit drug trade,” Md Salim Khan, organizing secretary of Dhaka Customs Agents Association.
According to Abu Dhabi based daily The National, Saudi Arabian law enforcement agencies seized several million tablets of amphetamines, locally known as Captagon pills, and in April banned imports of Lebanese agricultural produce citing increased attempts to smuggle drugs from the country.
Qatar law enforcement agencies also identified several Bangladeshi migrants with Yaba at the airport for the last five years, after their luggage went for screening under the airport scanner machine.
Talking to The Business Post, Dhaka Customs House Commissioner Md Moazzem Hossain said that it becomes difficult to check each and every item as large amounts of goods are being exported to multiple countries.
“It is difficult to check each and every item, we are targeting only 10 per cent,” he added.
Migration expert Asif Munir, said, “If Bangladeshis are involved with drug trafficking to middle eastern countries, then it will have a negative impact on Bangladesh’s image and manpower exports. Therefore, strict scanning and checking needs to be ensured.
